The Nepal America International Film Festival (NAIFF) has announced that ‘Gaun Aayeko Bato’, directed by Nabin Subba, will open this year's event. The film’s American premiere is set for June 20.

‘Gau Aayeko Bato’ (A Road to a Village), which features Dayahang Rai, Pashupati Rai, and child artist Prasan Rai, explores how a newly constructed road in the remote eastern Himalayas of Nepal affects this father-son relationship.

The movie also premiered at the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival last September and has been screened at other prestigious international festivals, including the Busan International Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, Beijing International Film Festival, and Goteborg Film Festival.

It is scheduled for release in Nepal and among the diaspora on June 7.

The festival, organised by the Nepal-America Film Society (NAFS), a non-profit based in Maryland, will run from June 20 to June 23, 2024. It will take place at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and Greenbelt Cinema in Maryland, USA. It will showcase diverse films, including features, documentaries, animations, experimental works, and shorts from Nepal, America, South Asia, and beyond.

Highlights include selections from the Global Peace Film Festival Florida and a focus on local films featuring works from Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

NAIFF aims to unite people from diverse cultures through cinema. Since its inception in 2017, it has become a significant platform for filmmakers with Nepali backgrounds, American filmmakers, and international diaspora filmmakers.

The festival will conclude with ‘The Red Suitcase’, directed by Fidel Devkota and produced by Ramkrishna Pokharel. The film, featuring Saugat Malla, Bipin Karki, and Sristi Shrestha, addresses the social dimensions of foreign employment and will have its American premiere at the festival.

Purna Singh Baraili, head of the Nepal America Film Society, stated that preparations for the festival are in the final phase, with the full lineup to be announced soon. Pokharel mentioned, “Our film being selected for the festival is an honour for us to celebrate cultural diversity and artistic expression.”